But to be fair to Doohan, he did switch back to the unridable "screamer" from the "big bang" to add a little more spice to the racing. The robotic and tedious Alex Criville was never going to do that, nor would he have been capable of beating Doohan on it. Doohan won anyway. Then, is it not true that the Hondas were ludicrously dominant at the time? It was a long time ago, so I can't be sure. But I wonder if Doohan could have won on another bike towards the end of his reign as the others were maybe not good enough. The screamer did have a habit of nerfing you off into the weeds - unless you were Doohan.
There is a difference to being great or a legend to being the so called GOAT (Not sure VR has sole claim to that by the way). Racing in Motogp full stop makes you great in my book and multiple championships like Doohan etc makes you a leg. But being the GOAT to me is about more than just the numbers. You might win half the championships on a barge of a bike than someone who wins loads on a good one. Which is the bigger achievement. MM could well be the GOAT but for me, less so if he rides for Honda forever.
I am actually going to agree with Bradders on this one. Marquez is an amazing talent and brilliant to watch (more so than Stoner in my opinion). I really rate him as a rider and think that there's nobody as good as him on the current field of bikes. That's the point though. Rossi has proven himself on other bikes, other CC's and with varying levels of rider aids. Unfortunately it's not possible to turn back the clock and see Marquez on a 500 against Rossi. What we can do is hope to see Marquez work his magic on a less competitive bike. Let's get him on a KTM and see if his legend holds up. Not that I watch it, but I remember there being talk in F1 about the car being superior and the driver not as important. Obviously that doesn't translate to bikes as the rider is more a part than in a car. However, Marquez is doing amazing things on the best bike of the bunch. Legendary status should have a bit of underdog to it too.
I remember Doohan’s quote when he was accused of making the racing boring. ‘ What do you want me to do, ride slower ‘ Class !
I was talking GOAT not legendary. He is defo legendary, as is Swantz, but we were talking about GOAT. Imho you need to show more than just being fast. Stoner is a great example. F’ing fast, without doubt one of the best talents ever to put a leg over a MGP bike. But not even too 5 GOAT. Doohan is btw
You've been able to watch Marquez v Rossi in a straight battle for 5 years now though. Only the most die hard Rossi fan would argue Rossi has been the better rider, he hasn't. Granted, they have been on different machines in that time and Rossi is in the latter part of his career, but Marquez has been streets ahead. People forget the Rossi hasn't won the championship for 9 years now too. Since his MotoGP debut in 2013, Marquez has won 35 races, Rossi has won 10. In this time, the Honda hasn't been the better machine, nobody apart from Marquez has come close to winning consistently on it. Remember the problems at the begining of last year for example. The Yamaha has probably been the ride to have. Wether the Honda is the best right now is subjective. It's very much horses for courses at the moment. We keep hearing of Yamaha tracks, Honda tracks, Ducati tracks. Almost everywhere seems to be a Marquez track. To allude tha Marquez is doing what he is doing because he's on the best bike, doesn't stack up. I've watched him do amazing things DESPITE the bike.
Saying right now that Rossi is the GOAT, does stack up given his record of championships. Statistics don't lie. I do think however, all things being equal, Marquez will surpass him. He is 25 with 6 championships under his belt. I can't see anybody on the horizon to challenge him. I think the weekend was just a brain fart for him and he will win the title this year.
Not sure that’s what anyone is saying. He rides the bike like he has always ridden the bike. Where is the adjustment to ‘make’ or work or the development of an old shed that others can win on? Maybe that will come, and certainly I reckon he will surpass VR and will win on other makes and will be GOAT in the next 5 years. If he doesn’t kill himself or someone else on the way. I’d love to see how these guys would get on with 240hp, no electronics, like BSB.
Shame the next race is Austin and one of MM strongest tracks. It would be interesting to see how a proper dice post Argentina panned out. There is bound to be a war of words pre race just to get the hackles up. But I doubt the Factory Yamaha's will get anywhere near MM in Austin on their current form.
Sad that Argentina was such a disaster. Officials and race control not knowing their own rules. Poor Jack Miller did everything right then they changed the rules again. At least it was better than the normal procession in MotoGP where nobody overtakes after lap 1 and Keith the commentator explains that this is turn 11, next will be turn 12 and then turn 13. He's a gift!! As regards Marquez, nobody would miss him if he wasn't there.
Think you've been watching reruns of WSBK there Pedro, as I recognise none of what you said there in the last few years of MGP
Maybe watching MotoGP on ITV4 on a Tues at x30 speed helps. Have to defend WSBK. But glad you enjoy MotoGP
WSBK is the worst race series out there right now, and is dying a death. No characters, only entertainment is first couple of laps, second race, when Rae is making his way to the front. With the odd race exception, of course MGP had loads of different winners last year, IMHO its the best race series (MGP and M3, M2 is pretty dire) out there at the mo
Fair point, WSBK is dying because Dorna now own it and are killing it. BSB is pretty good, even two races on the same day sometimes which is better value. Australian SBK is good now Bayliss is back .
I've managed to catch the first two, and yeah at least there is some overtaking. Shows an old fella of 48 (!) can still cut it for a few laps with the young fellas too. Bit like VR and the new lot lol
